Battle of Caer Caradoc

The Battle of Caer Caradoc was fought in 50 AD during the Roman conquest of Britain. Publius Ostorius Scapula's Roman army - consisting of Legio IX Hispana and Legio XX Valeria Victrix - decisively defeated the Brythonic Catuvellauni army under Caradoc (Caratacus) in Shropshire, crushing a major Celtic revolt against Roman rule in Britain.

Background
The Brythonic king Caratacus of the Catuvellauni waged a guerrilla war against the Roman Empire during the 40s AD, using Wales and the English borderlands as his main base. In 50 AD, the Roman governor of Britannia, Publius Ostorius Scapula, succeeded in bringing Caratacus to battle in present-day Shropshire; his army of 21,000 troops (of Legio IX Hispana and Legio XX Valeria Victrix) faced a Brythonic army consisting of warriors from several tribes. The Britons held the high ground and built a hillfort, Caer Caradoc, fortified by stone walls and a river.

Battle
Scapula, who was initially cautious about assaulting the British fort, was encouraged by his men's enthusiasm and crossed the river with little difficulty. His men deployed in the shielded testudo formation to withstand a hail of missiles from the tribesmen, and the Romans then dismantled the stone ramparts and broke into the fortress. There, the Celtic warriors were overwhelmed by the heavily-armored legionaries and the lightly-armored auxiliaries, and Caratacus was forced to flee to Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes, who turned him in to the Romans rather than face Rome's fury. Ostorius Scapula was granted triumphal ornaments for his great victory over the Britons, which resulted in the defeat of Caratacus' uprising and ten years of relative peace; while there were limited uprisings against Roman rule, there would not be a major revolt until Boudicca's destructive Iceni Revolt of 60 AD.